Love does not fix everything
by konohaflameninja
Summary: "Is everything ok?" Dinah couldn't help but ask. "Just a tantrum," Bruce mumbled. "Didn't look like 'just a tantrum'," Hal didn't bother holding back. "Well, it was." "Yeah, let's just drop it. All kids throw fits once in a while," Oliver didn't see what the big deal was. Roy behaved almost the same as Jason every other day. "Let's just let Bruce handle his kid." For The BatThing
1. Chapter 1

**For The Batthing... Thanks for inspiring me and always making me smile with your interesting writing. Thanks for sharing so much, your words have left a mark in me since the first chapter of You Do Good, You Find Good... and everything got way better when you came back!**

 **I hope you like it :)**

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Barry looked down at his watch. They had been there for almost an entire hour and yet Bruce didn't arrive at the League meeting. Good thing Oliver and Hal had brought the kid withs too, otherwise Wally'd be already bored to death and nagging him to leave.

"Could we just leave?" Thankfully Hal spoke everyone's mind, "We needed Bat's report for the meeting and he's not here. I have stuff to do at home and Kyle's got homework."

"Yeah, Wally too. Maybe we could reschedule…"

"LET MEE GOOOOO!" a loud wailing interrupted the speedster.

"Stop it, Jason!" Everyone turned to the door. Bruce was not known for losing his temper.

"YOU STOP HURTING ME!" the boy cried even harder, and some of the other League members were unable to restrain themselves and peeked outside.

"What is he doing, Uncle Barry?" Wally zoomed to his uncle's side, just as worried as the others because of the kid's words.

"Nothing, Wally, Bruce's just… holding Jason's arm," more like dragging him through the hall.

Bruce let go off him, cursing under his breath and totally ignoring the way Jason sat crying on the floor.

"I've had ENOUGH of you for today, Jason… Just stop with the damn tantrum already." He had done nothing to the child, Jason… had just proved to be way more difficult than previously thought, not that Bruce could blame him, but still… "And stop crying, no one has done anything to you."

"Bruce, we were waiting for you," Diana decided it was just the right moment to intervene. He loved watching Bruce's kids and had had the opportunity to get to know the man's youngest child a little bit more, "Come on, the kids can come too and play with the other children."

The tired man ran a hand through his face. He knew he shouldn't be mad at the little boy, it was obvious that he wouldn't act like any other child due his past, but it was still impossible to deal with sudden tantrums for no reason on a daily basis and never get upset about it.

"Both of you behave," he told both kids, ignoring the hurt look Dick shot him… He felt bad for Dick, it had been impossible for him to pay the child the same ammount of attention as before Jason's arrival, but what could he do? He had his hands full with his second son at the moment.

"Come on, Dick," Barry took advantage of the moment Bruce went inside to grab Dick's and Wally's hand and get back in the meeting room. Bruce usually didn't talk a lot about Jason, but he wouldn't have imagined those kind of scenes either.

"Let's go, sweetie,"Diana approached the crying child on the floor and offered her hand for him to took, which he did after "cleaning" some of the tears and snot of his face with the sleeve of his shirt. He was still very upset, but the child could never say no to Diana. "Would you like to play with the other kids?" Jason nodded, still cleaning his face with his free arm and trying to stop his wobbling lip. He liked the others and he had wanted to go, so he might as well play with them now.

"Is everything ok?" Dinah couldn't help but ask as they sat down again.

"Just a tantrum," Bruce mumbled. It was way more common for them than it should.

"Woah, didn't look like 'just a tantrum'," Hal didn't bother holding back. Kyle was no angel, but he never behaved like that either.

"Well, it was. Can we just start the meeting?"

"Come on, Bruce, don't be like that, we just want to help." Clark didn't like how sad Dick looked lately.

"That's rich coming from the man that refused to aknowledge his son's existence for months."

"That's different!"

"Woah, guys, let's calm down," Bary cut in.

"Yeah, let's just drop it. All kids throw fits once in a while," Oliver didn't see what the big deal was. Roy behaved almost the same as Jason every other day. "Let's just let Bruce handle his kid."

"Thank you," Bruce didn't think Oliver had been more right before, "So, to open the meeting…"

.

"Are you feeling alright, Jay?" Diana kneeled in frontof the child, who was still sniffling a little when they reached the part of the room the kids where playing at.

"Yes, thank you, Miss Wonder Woman."

"You can call me Diana," she smiled at him before standing up again, "Go play with your friends."

.

"Fine, so you want to know what happened?" Bruce snapped after more insistence and nagging from the other mentors, "The boys had just had breakfast, and Dick was already ready to go, Jason wasn't, I told him to take a shower, he didn't want to do as told, so I _tried_ to take him to the bathroom and he didn't react well. That's it, he threw a tantrum, so I had to let him come here like that," and indeed, the boy was still in his pijamas, "And even then, he didn't want to get out of the Batmovile, so he started a new tantrum. That's it. It's nothing to worry about, he does it almost everyday." Even though Dick had NEVER acted out like that…

"Bruce, I'm sorry, but that's not the best…"

"I know, Dinah, but Jason has struggled a bit before…"

"Exactly, that's why you should pay special attention to Jason's behaviour. I can recommend you someone if you'd like."

"Come on, Dinah, for you no child's behaviour is fine." Usually Oliver didn't talk to her like that, but they had had a fight a couple of days ago exactly because she didn't mind her own business. "He's a kid, just say something like 'I'm going to count to three before taking my belt off', and you'll see how fast he shapes up."

"What?!" Barry looked at him as if the archer were out of his mind.

"Oliver!" Diana actually gaped at the man's barbarious idea.

"See? That's why we never agree on anything, Oliver!" Dinah took a deep breath to try to calm down.

"What? It's just a warning, and it works."

"That's an awful idea, Queen, I'm not hitting my sons, especially Jason," not with the child's background.

"You don't have to, he'll just hear that and end up the tantrum."

"I don't think that's the best idea, man." Hal had to say. He knew Oliver cared about Roy, but neither of them had exactly good tempers.

"That's why Roy behaves like he does, Oliver."

"Would you cut it? My boy's fine." The blonde man glared at Dinah. Like she could handle a kid with Roy's temper.

"As if… That's why you hit him the other day?"

"You what?!" Clark looked at Oliver unbelievingly.

"Don't get your red panties in a twist, Kansas, I didn't hit him… I smacked his butt with my hand so he'd behave, no big deal, that's what they have it for."

Bruce shook his head.

"Jason's a good kid, he just have bad days sometimes… And we're learning how to deal with them," Bruce still had no idea how he'd do that, but he was not about to admit that to the other mentors.

"As you prefer, Bruce, just keep in mind Dinah's offer." Barry preferred that than the man considering Oliver's suggestion.

"Whatever." Oliver rolled his eyes. Not everyone's kid was perfect like Barry's.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello hello! First of all, thanks for Reading, I hope you're liking the story and that The BatThing is liking it as well, her stories are way too awesome for me to fail her.**

 **There's something I'd like to clarify before you read, anyways ;)  
No all of my stories have the same topic, and every reader doesn't have to like all of them, but keep in mind that one thing is fiction and a very different one is reality, and the fact that I write about something doesn't mean I support it or do it on real life.  
Maybe I'm not portraying the Justice League as the perfect group of families, but that doesn't mean anything, and besides, the idea of all of them being the perfect parents and role models raising perfect children seems pretty unreal to me. They aren't flawless and their wards are not either, so I see no problem writing them however I imagine them. **

**I hope you enjoy the story!**

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"Jason, get out of there." Bruce yelled for the fifth time and cursed under his breath when the boy did what he wanted anyways. After the meeting, they had taken the kids to an ugly and annoying hamburguer place they loved, and even though Bruce didn't like the boy's eating junk food, he had agreed in order of not having to deal with them for at least one more hour. Besides, Barry and Clark had volunteered to sit in the table just beside the playground area with the children, which gave himeven more time and space away from his current source of stress.

"Aren't you going to eat anything, Bruce?" Diana couldn't help but notice the man hadn't ordered a thing, and all of them were almost finishing their meals.

"This food, if you can call it that, is poison."

"It's shitty, but the kiddos like it."

"Hal's right. Besides, they get tired faster in that huge jungle gym." Not like Oliver preferred to take the kid home full of energy.

"Of course they get tired, all these fat and sugar don't give them any kind of energy."

"While this… 'Food' is clearly disgusting, I don't think there'll be a problem for one time the kids eat it." Athleantan food was way better, but Aqualad looked so excited to go with his friends, that Arthur couldn't bring himself to reject the invitation.

"Yes, Bruce. Besides, your children always eat well. One time they eat a burger won't do them any wrong." Dinah understood the man's worries, but they were kids and their immune systems were good.

Bruce sighed tiredly and ran a hand through his face.

"I don't care that much anymore, I just hope they fall asleep earlier or something…"

When adopting Jason, Bruce had known it'd be a little more difficult than raising Dick, but he hadn't expected it to be that hard. He was pretty sure not even Gotham's criminals treatedhim as agressively as Jason when throwing a full tantrum. Bruce had bit marks and bruises from kicking, biting and punching all over his arms and even on some other parts of his body. Just that day before snapping at the hall, he had to remind himself for not the first time that The Dark Knight of Gotham wouldn't cry because of a little boy's tantrum… at least not again.

For a while, the man had the luck of being able to enjoy a couple of hours without having to watch or interact with his sons, but son enough arrived the moment he had feared.

"Well, Wally and I have to go. There's homework waiting for us at home."

"We should probably head home too," Clark was holding the hand of a very displeased Conner, who obviously had wanted to stay but complied when told they had to leave.

Oliver, Hal and Bruce left for the playground in order to get their children, but while Dick and Wally went to their guardians as soon as they were called, Roy and Jason weren't in a rush.

"You know what?" Oliver got tired of standing there calling the boy like a fool while being ignored. "Fine, stay there if you want, I'm going home." Dinah shot the archer a disapproving look as he turned around and pretended to leave. Way to go, Ollie, pegadogists would be really proud…

As much as Bruce and Dinah wanted to smack a psychology book on Oliver's head, soon enough Roy got out of the playground and ran to catch his mentor's hand. Maybe…

"I'm going home, Jason!" Bruce grabbed Dick's hand as if he were really leaving.

"Bye!" Jason waved his hand at them, because he was having fun and no way he was going back to that huge scary house just yet.

"I'm really leaving, because it's late and it's going to get dark soon." Bruce even took some steps away.

But Jason kept on playing…

"Noooo! We can't leave without Jay!" Bruce almost face palmed. He was scaring the wrong child.

"Cut it, Dick," he started walking away, but got no response from his youngest.

Dinah felt bad and patted her friend's shoulder.

"I don't think it works on everyone, Bruce," she gave him a sympathetic look before going with Oliver.

"You know what? I'm sick of this," the man told Diana, starting to take off his shoes, "I'm done being that… child's joke."

"Bruce, what are you going to do?" Diana took Dick's hand.

But instead of answering, the man walked decided towards the jungle gym, catching the curious look his youngest was giving him.  
With determination written all over his face, he aimed his huge body direct to the entrance of the playground. It was a very tricky path towards Jason's location, but nothing impossible for Gotham's Dark Knight.  
The man pushed his upper half as far as it could go inside the dirty playground before climbing some more and trying to turn a little... And failing miserably.

The CEO of Wayne Enterprises struggled a bit as discreetly as he could, but even Jason peeked from where he was when the man took too long to move.

"Bruce?" Diana dared to ask. She could sense Dick getting anxious. "Everything okay?"

The man grunted, but gave up after one last struggle. He sighed before speaking up.

"I'm stuck..."

That could not be good.

.

The way back home was the most silent Dick had ever had. Bruce was serious sometimes, but never had he ever not spoken a single word on the way home before.  
It had been funny when Bruce's enormous body had gotten stuck on the playground, but then some staff at the restaurant had had to take off some parts of the jungle gym in order to get Bruce out and things had gotten a little bit more serious.

Under different circumstances, Dick could have laughed or at least giggled a little, but Bruce's face when he got free... Well, even Jason had got silent and ran to the car when the man looked at them.

Even when it was somewhat nice to have his new little brother to be good and quiet for once, the boy didn't like it that Bruce had to be so angry for it to happen... It was just not fair.  
Dick felt really bad for thinking that way, but ever since Jason arrived, Bruce was always angry and tired... Dick loved playing with Jason whenever his little brother wasn't crying or throwing a tantrum. Even if it had been kind of difficult for Jason to open up with him, they had really gotten to like each other, Dick loved having someone to play with all the time, and Jason always ended up having fun whenever Dick wanted to play with him... The other boy almost made him feel as safe as Alfred did.  
However, even if Bruce liked Jason as much as Dick and Alfred did, he was not bonding with him that well... And it put the man in the worst mood ever. Bruce never had time to play or read stories to him anymore, and he never smiled either because he always had 'bad days at work', even when Dick knew Bruce's work had been just fine.

Dick looked at his little brother, who was asleep against the window, and at Bruce's scowl in the front mirror before sighing sadly. Being a big brother wasn't being as fun as he first had thought.

"What?" The man spat as soon as he heard the child, but Dick's look just turned from sad to upset.

"You're always mean now."

That caught Bruce by surprise. What on earth...

"Listen to me, little boy, I don't appreciate you talking to me that way."

"I don't appreciate you always being mean."

"I'm not mean, I'm your fahter, and…"

"No, you're just Jason's father."

"Richard, stop being rude before I run out of patience."

"Like always," Bruce heard Dick mutter.

"Dick!"

"I can't talk, I'm trying to sleep," Dick curled himself against the door and leant his head on the window. He heard Bruce talking, but he didn't bother answering anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

Bruce sighed tiredly, looking at his mug of coffee and see if it held the answer to all his problems... Alfred had went to sleep three hours ago, after tucking in the children and having made a lot of jokes about getting stuck, and the silence was giving him time to think...

Maybe Dick's complaining had been annoying at the moment but planted the doubt in his head... It was true that he had being paying a little bit more attention to Jason recently, but he had been convinced Dick understood his new little brother was having a hard time adjusting... Apparently, he had been wrong. It hadn't been fair from him to expect an adult's reasoning from his eldest, who was still a little child.

He was sick of the entire situation. He had tried everything with Jason, and nothing had worked...

Bruce shook his head. He was not giving up on his youngest, but there was another little child that needed him, and it wasn't fair for him that Bruce didn't know how to handle his little brother.

.

The next day Dick didn't woke up as early as he was used to. It was Saturday and Alfred didn't wake him up on weekends, but usually Jason's screaming did. That day, however, he didn't hear any... 

Bruce never let them eat while watching TV, and Jason always threw a fit about it because he liked having breakfast but he also hated missing the morning cartoons... Not that he hadn't enjoyed having a nice and peaceful awakening, but it was creeping him out.

He got up and started walking downstairs. Maybe there had been an emergency and everyone had had to go out...

However, everyone was home. And acting super strange...  
To begin with, Jason was eating cereal right out from the box in front of the TV in the living room. 

And no one, not even Alfred, whowas drinking his morning tea, was saying anything about it... What crept him out even more was Bruce sitting on the other couch shipping from his coffee and reading the morning paper like everything was just alright and it wasn't. 

However, despite Dick's worried look, Bruce west not worried at all, not anymore. He had done a lot of thinking last night and after a lot of consideration he had all right to the conclusion that, as always, Alfred was right when he had told him before that he had to pick his battles. It made no sense to keep arguing over everything with a little boy... Hero cube worrying about Jason eating and sleeping, which he didn't do much, but, at least for the moment, he was way too tired to do anything else. 

"Good morning, Dick," he greeted his eldest when he spotted him on the stairs, "Did you sleep well?" 

The lttle boy nodded his head and started walking towards him was he came out of his astonishment. 

"Why is Jason eating here and watching TV?" It was just so weird to see. "I can take him with me to the kitchen if you want." Dick offered after sitting beside his dad. 

"That's fine, I don't care." 

The eldest boy looked at him incredously. 

"You what?" 

"As long as no one is dying or getting hurt, I don't care." Bruce was doing a titanic effort to convince himself. 

"...Alright." 

"Right, do you want some breakfast?" 

"Yes please." 

"Let's go then," Bruce stood up and headed to the kitchen, taking Dick with him by the hand.

*

Don't think wrong, Jason was happy and liked living in the Manor with Dick and Alfred, he enjoyed having them around and was eternally grateful with Bruce for letting him have a roof over his head and food on the table, he have not have any of these things some months ago when living on the streets, he hadn't even had them before when he lived with his mom, it was the first time ever he didn't have to worry about if he would be able to eat or not that day... However, no matter how grateful he was with the guy, there was just something about him that couldn't bring Jason to listen to him like he did with Alfred and Dick. Bruce was so awkward to deal with... He clearly didn't enjoy playing, didn't know how to talk with kids, and he always seemed annoyed whenever he had to deal with him... Which is exactly why he wasn't upset at all about this new attitude the man was taking. He didn't mind the guy stopping nagging him all the time, so whatever.  
He had been watching cartoons in his pajamas all morning and he was pretty comfortable just like that. Until...

"I would not like them here or there. I do not like them anywhere. I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them Sam-I-am." Jason heard from Dick's room when coming out of the bathroom and couldn't help but freeze. He loved that book!

"Would you like them in a house? Would you like them with a mouse?" Without thinking about it at all, Jason stealthyly crept into the room where Bruce was sitting on the bed reading to his brother.

At first the youngest boy had stayed by the door, but he unconsciously started coming closer and closer until suddenly he was leaning against the bed.  
By then, Bruce had obviously noticed him, but had decided to not say anything on the matter. However, he was not able to keep that stand for long when the little boy climbed onto the bed and kneeled beside him to see the pictures of the story, supporting his tiny little arm on Bruce's huge shoulder. It was like he had not spent the last few months stressed out because of that kid.

"Not in a box. Not with a fox. Not in a house. Not with a mouse. I would not eat them here or there. I would not eat them anywhere. I would not eat green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam-I-am." He had kept reading, and, like magic, Jason had gotten obviously more comfortable as he listened. Right then he had his cheek leaning on the man's chest and was sucking on his pinky, almost sitting at his lap. Bruce's heart was hopelessly melting.

"...And I will eat them with a fox. And I will eat them in a house. And I will lead them with a mouse. And I will eat them here and there. Say! I will eat them anywhere! I do so like green eggs and ham! Thank you! Thank you, Sam-I-Am."

By the time Bruce was done, Dick was not happy at all... While he loved his new little brother and was pretty glad Jason had spent the entire morning without crying or throwing a tantrum, but the eldest had actually enjoyed the little time his father had been able to focus on him... Now, he was not a selfish boy, there had been some time since he had gotten some attention from the man just to himself, and he had liked Bruce reading to him a lot... That until Jason had arrived. It had started as Bruce reading to him, and had ended as Jason happily sitting on their dad's lap and snuggling against his chest...

"Where are you going, Dick?"

"Somewhere else," was the only answer from the boy as he exited the room.

The man was going to insist, but the youngest kid passed the pages of the book, so it was once again opened in page 1.

"Again" Jason cuddled closer, completely lost in the book.

Absolutely stunned by the little boy's behaviour, Bruce arranged his arm around the kid and started reading once again.

"I am Sam. I am Sam. Sam-I-Am..."


End file.
